Lilly King will drive pace car Saturday at Grand Prix

IU and Olympic swimmer Lilly King, right, will be setting a different pace on Saturday, driving the pace car fot the 2018 IndyCar Grand Prix.

IU swimmer and gold medalist Lilly King has always wanted a Corvette.

This Saturday, she'll get to drive one in front of thousands of people as the pace car driver for the 2018 IndyCar Grand Prix. The honor was announced Wednesday.

King has never been to Indianapolis Motor Speedway before, even though she’s from Evansville. But she said this opportunity is special.

She's “a little nervous obviously because I have professional racers behind me who actually know what they are doing,” King said. “But it’s super cool to be here.”

On Wednesday, King took some practice laps with former driver and team owner Sarah Fisher, who gave King a few tips.

“I didn’t realize how hard it would be actually driving on the road course," King said. "But we took a couple of practice laps and I think I will be definitely better prepared than I was when I got here earlier today.”